Driving in Circles Going Nowhere Plays at Robinson Film Center Nov. 7

John Shimon and Julie Lindemann

SHREVEPORT, La. — Photographers and longtime collaborators John Shimon and Julie Lindemann present a series of intimate portrait films focusing on the people and places around them in their native Wisconsin, at the Robinson Film Center Friday, Nov. 7 beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Driving in Circles Going Nowhere is a series of eight short films and inspired by the history of experimental film and home movies. They are a panoply of short portraits of ordinary Midwestern personalities confront everything from technology and pregnancy to mortality. The photographers will introduce each film with discussion will follow.

The films include:

Driving in Circles:
- Making crop circles with the 1959 Ranchero.

Bill's Linotype:
- The linotype machine tells the story of one man's relationship with obsolete technology.

John T. Gates talks about Romanticism:
- A commentary on the darkness and light of Romanticism in the 19th and 21st centuries.

Paul Has Arms:
- A visit to the Minnesota studio of photographer Paul Shambroom whose work examines power.

Jimmy's Bad Dream:
- Artist Jimmy von Milwaukee comes to grips with his disease while grilling.

Moonphase:
- Natalie assesses her belly while pregnant with her second son.

The 12x20 Camera Goes to Brad & Amber's Backyard: A self-mockumentary.

Smash Casio/Standing Back/Free Money:
- Amber contemplates her roles as artist and homemaker.

Manitowoc Is Good/Lake Michigan is Gray:
- A meditation on isolation in the port city of Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

John Shimon and Julie Lindemann are Centenary's latest Attaway Fellows of Civic Culture, and will also have a photo exhibit on display from November 2—30 at the Turner Art Gallery and Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College.

The What We Do Here exhibit features large color portrait photographs and looks at how the social dissonance of global versus regional issues is expressed in visual terms in the gestures and topography of the people in the geographic region around them in Wisconsin. With the forces of a global economy and an expanding self-awareness enabled by the Internet and media, members of even the remotest communities reflect current international issues via personal construction, products consumed and the display of text, corporate logos and slogans.

John Shimon and Julie Lindemann, both originally from Manitowoc County, Wis., have worked collaboratively on art projects since 1981. Their photographs are in the collections at the Art Institute of Chicago, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Milwaukee Art Museum and Wisconsin Historical Society.

For more information about the short films or the photo exhibit, call 318.869.5169.

About Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College is a private, four-year arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Centenary is one of 16 colleges and universities constituting the Associated Colleges of the South and is regularly rated as one of the top colleges in the South. In 2008 Centenary College celebrates 100 years in Shreveport and Bossier City.